Lone Star Hero

by Jennie Jones

  “I didn’t say a word,” Alice informed him quietly.

  “I can see by the look on your face you don’t believe me. Or something,” he added.

  “It’s the or something.”

  “Oh, come on, Alice. Stop this.” He shifted slightly so he could see her better. “What am I doing wrong now?”

  Alice laughed. “You’ll do what you have to do. Nothing I can say will change that.”

  “So why are you laughing?”

  “Because I know what you’re going to do.”

  “That’s because I just told you!” Saul sighed and turned from her, leaning his forearms on his knees, his hands hanging. “This is too much, Alice. This is just—too much.” What the hell did she want him to do, for crying out loud?

  Molly waited by the door to the lodge house, leaning against the frame, arms crossed, a smile on her face as Saul got closer. She’d watched for him for the last half hour once she’d realized he wasn’t in the hacienda grounds.

  “You’ve been to see Alice,” she said. She didn’t need to make it a question, it was likely where he’d been.

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay.” Another quick smile as she unfolded her arms and pulled the pickup keys from the back pocket of her jeans. “So grab your backpack and we’ll head into Hopeless. I promised I’d be there by midday. Presume that’s all right with you?” she added with a raise of her eyebrow.

  She was still smiling. It was now stuck to her face like glue attracted glitter. But she was making a stand. Probably the last one she’d have to endure because nothing would ever be as hard as this.

  “Let me walk.”

  She shook her head. “No way. I’m a good employer, I give lifts to my contractors.” She headed for the pickup. “Anyway, I told you. I have to pop into the salon. There’s lots to organize for next week’s open day. It’s all go. I am going to be so busy I won’t know what’s hit me.”

  Considering she was dodging the whole issue of never seeing him again by covering her sensitivity to that with a gung-ho, all-is-well attitude, she didn’t think she was doing too badly. Just look at her smile. She wasn’t even shaking yet, and neither would she. Not until this had been done and she’d turned the pickup for home. She had no intention of stopping off in town to see anyone. She didn’t want them to witness her complete breakdown.

  Twenty-five minutes later, she drove into town. “Wow,” she said. It was the first spoken word in the pickup since Saul had thrown his backpack onto the tray and seated himself in the passenger seat.

  “Who are they?” Saul asked.

  “No idea. Never seen them before.”

  “Must be here for a look before the open day.”

  “Maybe.” A family of four was sitting on one of the picnic tables Saul had knocked up, eating a Hopeless sponge cake from paper plates.

  Another group pottered around the co-op market fruit and vegetable table. A couple were sauntering out of the takeout with coffee, and a group of young people were sitting on the sidewalk outside Davie’s art shop.

  Molly pulled the pickup over at her end of Hopeless Main Street—not the end he’d walk out.

  The air in the cab got really heavy as she gripped the steering wheel and Saul stared ahead. Then he got out.

  Molly waited a second, taking a breath and steadying herself. She couldn’t just sit here as he walked away. She got out too, but left the door open and her hand on the door.

  “So this is it,” she said with a smile. “Our fond farewell.” She cleared her throat. “I’d just like to say—”

  His hand shot out and covered hers. “Don’t say anything.”

  She met his eyes and sadness engulfed her. She forced it away. “Probably best,” she agreed.

  “It’s just the better way to handle this.”

  She should never have driven him into town. What had she been thinking? She couldn’t cope with this. “So long then. Be good.”

  He stared at her for a long time. “You know what I’d say, don’t you?” he asked. “If we’d had that fond farewell conversation.”

  “Sure I do.” She didn’t have a clue.

  What would he say? Thanks for the sex? No—she admonished herself for that. It wasn’t who he was. He couldn’t stay. He was protecting her by not allowing the fond farewell. He knew she’d fall for him—if he didn’t already know that she’d fallen head first into the pit of eternal love.

  “So there’s no need for us to say it,” he said, although there was a query in his voice, as though he was checking that this was okay for her.

  “No need. Thank you.” She had to at least say that.

  He stuck his hand inside a thigh pocket in his hiking pants. “Here,” he said, and handed her an envelope. “This is yours.”

  She took it, opened it and gave a little gasp. “No,” she said, closing the flap and holding the envelope out to him. “Don’t do this.”

  “I just did it. I don’t need that money.”

  “I wasn’t even paying you a going rate, Saul. Please take it back.”

  He shook his head. “You do something good with that money. Do something for the town. Go buy those two computers you were talking about getting for the book swap place.”

  “It’s a library.”

  He smiled. “My bad. The library.”

  He took her hand and squeezed, closing her fingers around the two thousand dollars she’d paid him for building her roof. “Take it. It’s not mine. It’s yours.”

  I can’t do this! Her eyes stung. She turned from him so she could regroup for a second, and looked straight into the eyes of a cop.

  “Molly Mackillop?” he asked.

  Molly nodded, a bad feeling hitting her in the stomach.

  “Deputy Carl Lewis, Randall County Sheriff’s office. Need a word with you.” He pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. “Do you own, or have you ever seen, this ring?”

  Molly took the paper, scanned it. It was a photograph of her engagement ring. “It’s mine,” she said, handing the paper back. “But it’s not mine, if you know what I mean.”

  “Not sure I do know what you mean, ma’am. Are you in possession of this piece of jewelry?”

  “No. At least, I don’t think so. But it’s possible I am.” Given what Alice had said.

  “You’re not making much sense,” the deputy said. “Want to expound on that? Do you have it or not?”

  “What’s the problem?” Saul asked, stepping to Molly’s side.

  “Who are you?” Deputy Lewis said. “Family?”

  “No.”

  “Sorry, buddy. You need to back off. Miss Mackillop, is there somewhere you and I can have a chat?”

  Deputy Lewis looked at Molly, his focus intent and expression neutral, and for the first time in her life, Molly knew exactly what was going to happen next.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Psychic Arrested! Didn’t See It Coming.

  Molly dropped her chin to her chest.

  “People love a headline, honey. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Oh, Momma.”

  Momma slammed the lid on her laptop down, removing the sight of the headline splashed across the Amarillo Globe’s front page. “Everything happens for a reason, baby.”

  “I didn’t hear him say I was arrested,” Molly said, rising from the hair-chair and pacing the salon floor. “How can the Globe know I’m under arrest when I don’t know?” She bit into her bottom lip. “How did they get this information so quickly? If I was arrested, I was only arrested twenty minutes ago.”

  “It wasn’t me,” Momma said, a hand on her heart. “But I think some of our visitors might have uploaded a video to Twitter.”

  Molly slapped a hand on her forehead, trying to make sense of it all. Arrested!

  “This is only the online news, Molly. It gets updated every time something happens. Although I have to mention—your hair’s a mess. It won’t do my business any good with you plastered all over the Globe looking like that.”
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  Molly blinked, amazed to hear her speak like this. Then she saw the glint of humor in her mother’s eye and the slight kink of her mouth. The look on Momma’s face was full of care and love, and Molly smiled back, understanding that this was Momma’s way of calming her daughter. “Has anyone ever told you you’re the best mother ever?”

  “Only your cousins, baby.”

  From the age of ten, both her cousins had been brought up by their grandmothers and given a more normal outlook of life by Molly’s momma. If any of them could be labeled normal.

  “Nobody’s normal, honey. Don’t worry about it. That gorgeous hunk of a man will sort it all out.”

  Molly looked through the plastic blinds on the open salon door to where Saul was talking to Deputy Carl Lewis from the Randall County Sheriff’s Office.

  “He was supposed to be leaving,” Molly said. Now look what had happened. She’d held him up.

  As soon as it had become obvious that the cop was in town and that Molly was in trouble, her family had gathered around her on the street, demanding to know what was happening and why. Molly had been speechless. The thing. The scumbag had set the cops on her, claiming she was a thief.

  Davie had stood bodyguard, arms crossed over his massive chest, chin down, glare in place. Molly had to keep nudging him to remind him to remove his grimace in case it infuriated the deputy.

  Then Momma had started flirting, which hadn’t helped because Deputy Lewis was married, as he’d pointedly advised Momma. So Saul had stepped forward and told the officer he was Molly’s boyfriend and if he could, he’d like to be a spokesperson for her. Then he’d said he was a ranger and he and the cop had swapped a few ranger and cop jokes, like number one requirement of the day. Get home safely. And number two... try not to end up on YouTube, and everything had calmed down, with Deputy Lewis happy to talk to Saul and okay about letting Molly sit in the salon while the ranger and the cop chatted about her appetite and thievery problems.

  The fear that had slid into her gut when she’d looked in the cop’s eyes hadn’t gone away yet. “I swear to God, Momma, something’s happening to me on the inside,” she said, clutching her stomach.

  “Honey, you’ve always had the gift, but now that you’ve found it—not the other way round—don’t expect to be able to turn us all into frogs anytime soon.”

  Molly couldn’t stifle her cynical laugh. Frogs? That brought her up for a moment and made her think. She tilted her head as she stared at her mother. Pepper had mentioned frogs. How did Momma know? Pepper and Lauren had also coined the phrase “sorry, ab-less creep.” How did Momma know? “You’ve got it,” she said, astonishment settling her worries. “You’ve got the gift.”

  “Not me,” Momma said. “I prefer to put my concentrations on reality and real people.”

  Molly was astounded. How could she have missed it all these years? Or had she not taken any notice? Momma was a foxy lady though. She’d hidden her gift for a reason. Probably to try and make Molly and her cousins feel normal. “Oh, Momma,” she said softly.

  “Don’t go thinking something’s there when it’s not,” Momma said, and turned her attention to her laptop.

  For some reason, Momma didn’t want people to know about her ability. Perhaps that too, was a gift.

  Wait until she told Lauren and Pepper! Although—maybe that wasn’t a good idea. She didn’t know why, but something told her to keep quiet about it.

  Which made her think about her own newfound gift. She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted her ability. Too spooky to contemplate at the moment, given she’d just been arrested and hadn’t seen it coming.

  “I need a lawyer,” she said. “Do we have a lawyer?” Was it even legal for a felon to make a phone call without police presence? “Quick,” she said to her mother. “Can I borrow your cell? I left mine at home.”

  “We won’t need a lawyer, honey.”

  “But I’m under arrest! The Globe said so.”

  “You’re not under arrest.”

  Molly swiveled at the sound of Saul’s voice.

  “It’s not an arrest, Molly. I can take you home. Back. I can take you back to your place. And I’ll stay until this is finalized.”

  He took her hand, walked her to the hair-chair and made her sit. Then he grabbed a stool and wheeled it in front of the hair-chair. He sat, and took her hand again. “We’re going to work this out. Aren’t we, Marie?” he asked, still focused on Molly.

  “What are we going to do?” Marie asked.

  “Is Winnie around?” Saul looked at the corridor. “Hey, Winnie—we need your help! Davie?” he asked Momma.

  Momma moved to the door of the salon and pushed the blinds aside. “Davie!” she yelled.

  Molly winced, and Saul squeezed her hand.

  “I’m here,” Winnie said, scuttling in from the takeout.

  Saul grabbed another chair, wheeling it forward for Winnie. He pulled the one next to him closer and tapped its seat, indicating Momma take it.

  Molly was now sitting within the circle of her family.

  “This is some craziness,” Davie said when he strode through the plastic blinds, his tone suggesting to Molly that he was confused, worried, and pissed all at once.

  “We’re going to sort it out,” Saul said. He didn’t offer Davie a chair, but Davie might not fit in one anyway, given the breadth of him.

  Saul returned his focus to Molly and took both her hands in his. “We’re all going to help, Molly. Every one of us. You’re going to be okay.”

  She nodded. “I’m going to be okay.”

  “Now tell us what happened with the ring. From the very first mention of it between you and Birling.”

  She told the story. From the suggestion of marriage, to her reminder four months later that if they were engaged she’d like a ring. “I chose it myself,” she said. She explained how she’d shown him the ring she would like, and Jason’s response about his strapped-for-cash position. And later, to Molly suggesting she buy it, to help out. “Especially because I didn’t feel the need for a man to buy me a ring when I was perfectly capable of purchasing it myself. It was going to be on my finger anyway, not his.” She told them about his concern that he’d be viewed as less than a man if she bought it—at which point Saul grunted, but didn’t interrupt her with a comment—and how she’d given Jason the cash and he’d put that cash onto his Visa and together they’d gone to the jeweler and Jason had seemingly bought the engagement ring.

  The next part was hard so she glossed over it. “I didn’t knock on the motel room that afternoon, because it wasn’t supposed to be occupied.” She swallowed, and kept her focus on the plastic blinds on the door so she didn’t have to meet anyone’s eye. “There they were. In the throes. So I threw the ring at him.”

  Everyone in the salon inhaled, and shifted a little, except Saul. “Shame it wasn’t a jackhammer,” he said quietly. “Then what happened?” He still held her hands. He hadn’t let go once.

  “Then I packed and left.”

  “Did he try to talk to you while you packed?” Saul asked. “Did he visit your room, or stop you in the foyer?”

  Molly expressed her derision with short laugh. “Of course he did. He came to my room and asked what would happen to the motel brochure I hadn’t finished.”

  “Did you turn your back on him at any time?”

  Molly met Saul’s eye, then she looked up and into her mother’s eyes. “He slipped it in my suitcase, or something,” she said, as she realized the truth of it. “He meant to do this. He meant to accuse me of stealing all along.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking,” Momma said. “Boy, that man can hide his intentions. I bet even Alice didn’t know.”

  “She did!” Molly said. “She knew I had the ring. I forgot to tell you that part.”

  “Alright.” Saul squeezed her hand. “We can look through your suitcase when we get back to the hacienda. But how are we going to prove you didn’t take it?”

  Molly chuckled, satis
faction replacing worry. “I’m not as dumb as everybody thinks I am.”

  Saul returned her smile. “Nobody here thinks that. What did you do?”

  “When I handed over my five thousand dollars in cash, I made him sign a receipt for it. I did his books. I was used to making a record of every transaction. It said ‘Jason Birling received five thousand dollars from Molly Mackillop for the purchase of her engagement ring’.”

  “Clever girl,” Momma said.

  “And you’ve got this receipt,” Saul said.

  It wasn’t a question, he knew she had it.

  Molly beamed at him. “I won’t be getting arrested now, will I?”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Five hours later Molly should have been elated. She’d found her engagement ring wrapped in a thin silk scarf in her suitcase. It was stuck deep in a zipped side pocket she never used. She’d shown Deputy Lewis the receipt for the five thousand dollars and had been cleared of the charge of theft. Plus, Jason was the one in trouble now. The snake had even called her! Pitifully apologizing, with just a hint that this was all her fault for leaving him in the first place. Snake! But things had moved fast once the police were involved. He’d already had his sports car repossessed, which was going to be sold, so Molly would get her ten thousand dollars back. Plus, no doubt trying to wheedle his way out of a court case, Jason had told Molly he happened to have another ten thousand dollars in cash, and he’d send it to her for repayment of his office fit out. He’d had all that cash, all along! The thing.

  She should be exhilarated by all this, but all she felt was numb.

  Saul Solomon, the man she thought she’d said goodbye to hours ago, was back in the lodge house.

  “Tired?” he asked.

  Molly nodded but couldn’t look at him although she managed a smile. “Thanks for everything.” Like just being himself. His gorgeous, caring self—and every other wonderful trait he possessed.

  He had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his hiking pants and a taut expression on his face, as though he too was holding back elation and exhaustion and the same kind of numbness.